News & Stories

Hanover. In collaboration with environmental management of TUI AG, TUI Hotels & Resorts awards the group's own "EcoResort" certificate for the first time in the course of the 2006/07 winter season.

Frankfurt/M. A new market place operated by Verband Deutsches Reisemanagement provides job offers and jobs-wanted ads in the fields of business travel, mobility and event management. The new VDR job market called "Travel to Jobs" has hit the Internet.

Hanover. The business travel section of TUI Leisure Travel, the German travel agency division of Europe's leading travel company, is to be expanded under the brand "First Business Travel".

London. Unique to the hospitality industry, "Sleep06" is a trade event that combines an exhibition, awards ceremony and conference. In London, the event brings together a worldwide audience of all those involved in the creation of new hotels: owners and operators, architects and designers, investors and developers, financiers and consultants.

Zurich. Andreas Schmid, President of the Executive Board of Kuoni Reisen Holding since 2002, wanted to sell First Choice, the Swiss travel firm. However, the secretly arranged deal fell through when the management got wind of it and opposed it so vehemently that the whole thing failed. Now, Andreas Schmid has resigned.

Budapest. Budapest's hotel market is in motion. It is, above all, the 5-star sector that benefits from the rising demand. However, the competition among the top hotels is growing.

Berlin. GBI Berlin, Gesellschaft fuer Beteiligungen und Immobilien-Projektentwicklung is investing 20 million Euros in a new 4-star hotel at Lake Fleesensee in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania that will be operated by TUI and its Iberotel brand. The first sod will be cut this Friday.

Frankfurt/M. Basically, hotels always make the same mistakes when dealing with conference, seminar and event customers. This is the almost identical result of two studies that were recently presented at the VDR "Hotel Day" and the HSMA "Mice Day" in Frankfurt. From a positive point of view, the results can be used as an instruction for sales and banquet departments. There would be enough reason to treat this clientele with care: the profit margin that comes from daily business is roughly twice as high as from the "standard" hotel business.

Paris. IH&RA will cancel its 43rd Annual Congress and Human Resources Development Forum scheduled to take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 26-29 October.

New York. 86 percent of all U.S. business travellers put high-speed in-room Internet connections on top of their priority list, followed by free local calls. The minority asks for minibar and pay-per-view movies.